Kamau Bell: Not your dad’s late night any more

Two years ago, Chris Rock caught W. Kamau Bell’s act in New York and went back stage after the show to tell the longtime Bay Area comic that he was funny.

Bell has said that was like Michael Jordan telling you you have a nice jump shot.

For the past 15 years, live audiences, especially in the Bay Area, knew Bell was funny: On Thursday night, the rest of the country got in on the joke as well when “Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell” premiered its six-episode first season on FX.

Yes, it was edgy and some of the edges were still a bit rough, especially at the end of the half hour show when Bell welcomed his executive producer to the stage for a brief chat. That producer, whom Bell calls “foul-mouthed Yoda,” is Chris Rock.

Having the boss in your “office” on your first day on the job can be a little off-putting and Bell did seem more ill at ease than he had been earlier in the show. Part of the problem may be that Bell and Rock know each other too well to pull of something akin to a typical late-night talk show interview. Bell had to play straight man, and earned a solid B, while Rock, of course, killed, making reference to previous shows hosted by African American comics, including Rock himself and Dave Chappelle.

“Now don’t go running away from us now,” Rock mock-warned Bell, referencing Chappelle’s disappearing act a few years back. “Don’t go to Africa til the show is over.”

But in terms of other late-night fare, “Totally Biased” isn’t typical at all. In fact, it makes “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” seem like something your dad watches (ouch-sorry, JS). Like Stewart, Bell is a practitioner of topical humor, and, like “The Daily Show,” “Totally Biased” is filmed on broadcast day to try to keep its material fresh.

Bell’s first bit targeted the to-do over Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas‘ ‘do. As the 16-year-old swirled and twisted her way to Olympic gold, the twit-o-sphere clattered with absurd, demeaning and stunningly offensive commentary about her “nappy hair.”

A tweeter known as Lumpy Space Princess opined, “So for real no one wanted to go to London to do Gabby Douglas’ hair?”

“So for real,” Bell responded, “your name is Lumpy Space Princess?”

And while Bell took primary aim at what is making news, those who deliver it did not escape his mockery. The sainted Bob Costas was shown in a clip saying Douglas should be an inspiration to other African American girls watching.

Is this 1968, Bell asked? “Everybody can be inspired by Gabby Douglas.”

The bit was funny and made its point, but it also displayed one challenge that Bell has doing a weekly show instead of a daily show: The news arc for Gabby Douglas’ hair probably peaked a couple of days ago. That’s not to say the segment misfired, just that after the first six episodes, FX should consider giving Bell a nightly slot.

Of course, the one thing that made Bell’s commentary on the story relevant is that he’s an African American comic. And while a lot has been said over the past few days about Gabby Douglas, Bell had a great last word on the matter: “She won (her gold medal) by a hair– one small, beautiful nappy hair.”

Bell also showed just how good he is at walking the fine line between very serious news and pointed commentary in a segment about the killing of six members of a Sikh temple in Wisconsin by a white supremacist.

While the nation is still reeling from the insanity of those heinous killings last Sunday, Bell spoke of the differences between Muslims and Sikhs. He pulled out a map to show that the Middle East is a region, while Sikhs are a religious order from Punjab.

And then, with unbelievable courage and comic genius, he began to riff, building on the difference between “Sikhs” and Muslim “Sheiks,” pulling up one photographic example after another as he threw in similar words: “Shaq,” as in O’Neal, “shake,” as in milkshake, and “Sith” as in “Star Wars.”

And that’s only a bit of the brilliant chain of similar sounding words that made us laugh at the same time it reminded us of the stupidity that festers at the base of all prejudice.

Bell is very likely to smooth over the minor bumps in the show, but, make no mistake: “Totally Biased” isn’t likely to look much like “The Colbert Report” or “The Daily Show.” Its audience doesn’t need brass-heavy theme music, fancy graphics or a gleaming studio that looks like it was designed by NASA. In fact, the show’s audience probably doesn’t even want that kind of look or feel for “Totally Biased.” Unlike the Comedy Central late-night shows, you see the live audience sitting just a few feet from where Bell is walking back and forth, telling a new truth for different ears.